Tales of the Great Sea
by Reily96
Summary: A series of short stories chronicling the adventures and meetings of minor and side characters of my AU Zelda fanfic Fly Away. Contains multiple genres and many, many different Zelda characters. Updated whenever I feel like mostly, as this is a side-project.


****Hello all, and welcome to _Tales of the Great Sea_. This is not a WindWaker based set of stories. It is actually a set of side-stories I'd come up with concerning my current huge project, _Fly Away_, which is an alternate-universe story that takes place during the WindWaker timeline branch. As I kept developing the story and its characters, I realized I'd come up with a lot of separate stories that just couldn't be incorporated into the main story. To add them would only bulk up the story, and seeing as how the story is planned to be 70 or more chapters, I wanted to save my readers some grief.

You don't have to read _Fly Away_ to get these stories. Most of them are just background stories of various minor and side characters in the story or just me playing with writing a story a character summarizes in the main story. If I feel a bit more daring, I may even write a little fanfiction of my own story here, seeing as how I actually have some pairing preferences that aren't canon to my own story (coughBlindadnZeldacough). Anyways, if you have no idea what _Fly Away_ is and don't care to read it, that's just fine. Again, all you need to know is what I already stated earlier - these stories take place in an alternate universe in the WindWaker timeline. It would tickle me pink if you did check out the main story, though. XD

Some of these stories may have typos and other mistakes, and for that, I'm sorry in advance. If they're particularly huge, I'll fix them. But if it's stupid and can be overlooked, I'll be lazy and won't do a darned thing to fix it. Without further adieu, he is the first tale of the Great Sea.

* * *

**Maggie and Moe**

Another day's wages.

It had to have been a gift from the goddesses.

At least that was what Margaret Fall thought. Maggie had never quite been able to hold a job. Aside from not being very pretty, she never considered herself very smart either. Her bosses never seemed to think so either, often times saying she couldn't get even the simplest of tasks down pact. And seeing how she was the main provider in her two person household, this was something very troubling to her. Because while it was very true that her father had a job, more often than not, he ended up spending their money in back alley gambles or paying off debts for said back alley gambles.

Lucky for her that she seemed to find a job that could tolerate her dim wits and subpar looks. But then again, it wasn't like working at the "Squid on a Stick" stall required looks or brains. You sold squid on sticks to the customers, who never expected the one working the stall to be very appealing due to the fact that said person always ended up smelling like rotting seafood. The even better news was that despite being on Bleak, Isle of Thieves, no one ever wanted to steal squid on a stick. It was too easy to get caught because of the smell that came with stealing it.

So with her purse heavier than usual, she didn't mind the smell of squid on her or the horrible children from down the street laughing at her squid juice stained blouse. Granted, the smell of squid was going to stay on her heavily as she happened to be carrying some of the merchandise in her basket. She had a stop to make before heading to the market before it closed.

Turning the corner and striding right up to the high class establishment of the Dancing Cat, she headed right in and smiled at Mr. Gorman, who had been greeting patrons as they entered. He openly flinched when she entered, mostly because he was very clear on his dislike for squid. But he pulled that the grimace and put on a strained smile, saying through gritted teeth, "Oh, Maggie. What a pleasant surprise…"

"Good evening, Mr. Gorman," she said cheerily. "Is Penny in? I know how much he likes squid, so I brought some of the left over stock from today. Serj said it was okay."

Gorman said nothing, but departed to the back of the tavern. Maggie was already quite familiar with what came next. She was to wait off to the side, down wind so that no one would be driven off by her stink. Since Penny was up two levels, she had to wait a few minutes, but she waited quite happily. She liked Mr. Pennysworth, and even if he was considered one of the biggest slimeballs on Bleak (which was no easy feat), she certainly hadn't met such a good hearted slimeball before him.

Pennysworth came down from his office with gusto, hurrying towards her in a way that reminded Maggie a lot of an eager child. "Maggie!" He cried out happily in his high pitched tone.

"Hello Penny," she said, giving the scrub a hug as he approached. She pulled away and then held out her basket. "I brought you some squid."

The scrub took the basket and shuddered with glee, taking a squid in one twiggy hand and then sucking it in his snout. "Maggie, the squid job is the best one you've _ever_ gotten." Pennysworth said gleefully.

"I wouldn't have got it if not for you, Penny." Maggie said graciously. "You've been very nice to me and Papa, a little bit of squid is the least I can do."

But at the mention of "Papa," the Deku seemed to take a little less joy in his squid. "Maggie… I wouldn't go home today, if I were you." He said solemnly.

Puzzled, she asked, "Why?"

"Don't ask just… just don't! Go anywhere! Just… just don't go back there, you hear!" The scrub said irritably.

Maggie frowned and nodded, even though she really wasn't saying she wasn't going to go home. She didn't have any other place to go, after all, and Penny, for all his niceness, probably wasn't going to give her a place to stay. So after her visit was done with and Penny had all his squid, she said goodbye and left to the market. While there, she bought some stale bread and some wizened apples. She thought of getting some jerky, but figured it would probably be best to save her rupees for an emergency.

She returned home, her mood was relatively unchanged.

That was until she felt her hair get yanked the moment she entered the door. Screaming, she abandoned the bread and the apples she'd carried with her so she could instead claw at the arm that had a fistful of her hair. But it didn't seem to matter, and the man was dragging her to the kitchen. She kept screeching, even after he threw her on the rickety table in the kitchen.

"Ugh, someone get a gag for this ugly bitch."

She quickly looked up, seeing a man she'd never seen before sitting at the table. She picked herself up and tried to run, only to have the same man from before her grab her by her hair again. She kept struggling and screaming, her cries becoming more horrified as another man came and stuffed a rag in her mouth.

The man at the table sighed, his eyes focused on the doorway to the house. "I guess he got wind we were coming…"

"What now, boss?" The man who had her by her hair asked.

Again, the man at the table sighed, his gaze now resting on the gagged and crying girl. "I suppose we'll take her. Maybe if his precious daughter is on the line, he'll pay up."

* * *

The tiny, cramped closet was miserable. She'd seen nothing but the inside of it for three days, or what she guessed was three days. It was difficult to tell the time with no sunlight to gauge.

She was tied up, and the gag was still in place. They never took it off of her, only being so gracious to splash water on her when they thought she may need water or when they claimed her stink was getting on their nerves. She was also hungry, but she'd dealt with hunger before. All she really wanted was to go _home_. But with each passing moment, she felt that hope slipping further and further away.

Tears stinging at her eyes, she looked up, trying to see past the ceiling.

_Goddesses up in Heaven_, she thought, since she could not speak, _Please… please Farore, give me the courage to live through this. Please Din, give me the power to live through this… and please Nayru, I know I'm not wise… but please grant me some wisdom to know what to do._

She let out a muffled squeal when she heard yelling outside of her closet. This happened a lot in the time she'd been here, yet for some reason was incredibly frightening to her. Probably because she had no idea what was going on out there or if it would affect her. She curled into a ball, not for the first time wishing this was all just a terrible nightmare.

The door to the closet burst open.

She shut her eyes immediately, the sudden light temporarily blinding her. There was more yelling, but she couldn't quite make out the words. She felt herself hoisted up, and she chanced opening her eyes. The sensitivity to light lessened, she saw she was high off the ground and moving. With no idea what was happening, she let out a muffled scream and began flailing. But whoever it was that had a hold on her seemed undisturbed by her panic. The next thing she knew she was thrown onto something soft and springy. It took her a few moments to realize it was a bed, which caused her to panic even more. She did her best to squirm off, to squirm _anywhere_.

"I'm not going to hurt you," someone had said, but the words were meaningless go her.

There was a shadow following her squirming self, and all she ended up doing was put herself in a corner. Cringing in her protective ball, she feared for herself, wondering if the goddesses had even heard her plea…

She felt the ropes on her ankles loosen.

Maggie opened her eyes in surprise, glancing at the shadow that had brought her here. It took her a few moments to identify him as a Moblin – as she'd only ever seen a few in her short life. Yet her surprise did not leave her, as the Moblin was now undoing the ropes on her wrists.

When that was done, his pig like face finally rose and they were looking each other face to face. She blinked, unsure what to make of this creature or what his intentions may have been.

"Are you going to take that gag out of your mouth?" He asked in a tone she recognized as one of a person who was speaking to someone of significantly lesser intelligence.

Suddenly feeling her face redden with embarrassment, she undid the gag and threw it aside. And after that, she slapped her hands over her eyes. It was a stupid thing to do, but she was a stupid girl. And she desperately hoped if she kept her hands over her eyes, the Moblin before her would disappear. And he did shortly after, as she heard the door close. Even so she still kept her hands over her eyes. The stupid thought that maybe she could disappear from this horrible place came into her head.

When she heard the door open again, her mouth immediately began to water. Because when the door opened, the smell of cooked fish assaulted her nostrils. Her eyes were still covered by her fingers, but she desperately wished to reach out and swallow the fish whole. Three days worth of hunger were catching up on her – three days she thought she could handle but was now feeling the pain it brought.

The smell was right under nose, she just knew it…

"Go on. Eat."

She peeked through her fingers. It was the Moblin again. He was holding a plate with the fanciest looking fish she'd ever seen. It was laid out so pretty that if she wasn't starving at the moment, she wouldn't dare consider eating it. Seeing as how she was starving, however, she didn't think twice. She grabbed the fish with both her hands, desperately biting at the food offered to her.

"Don't eat it too fast or it won't stay down," the Moblin said.

But she'd barely heard. She was caught up in the scrumptious flavor of the fish. She'd never had anything like it. Most fish she had was just salted and cooked, but this had something else to it. Maybe it was the severe hunger, or maybe something else. Whatever the case, she could easily say it was the most delicious thing she'd ever had. The meal has also certainly made her forget her current situation, and when it was done with, she found herself slapping her fish-greased hands back over her eyes.

"You'll go home soon…" She heard the Moblin say. And then she heard the door open and close.

She peeked through her fingers at the door.

The Moblin was so… so nice. The stories always called them monsters. The few Moblins she had seen didn't really the terror factor. But that one was nice. He took her out of the closet, away from the nasty men, and gave her food… And for a moment, she debated over who the real monsters were. The men had treated her like a beast… And the beast had treated her so kindly.

She felt herself blush. The only other one who'd been so nice to her was Penny, but Penny never gave her anything for free. And here the Moblin had fed her for no cost. He also said he wouldn't hurt her… and he hadn't… So… So that would mean what he said was true. She would go home soon. Her hands dropped fully from her face as her lips twitched ever so slightly upwards.

The Moblin continued to visit her, usually with some food. He directed her towards a proper restroom too and gave her a change of clothes. She wasn't at all used to this, someone being so nice to her… And he didn't say much. All he really said every day was, "You'll go home soon." After a week, Maggie began to debate the validity of that. But she kept her hopes up, and she would now smile every time the Moblin said that statement. He had been so kind, and he hadn't lied to her yet, so she had to believe him.

For the most part, however, Moe wasn't around. She was left mostly to herself in the run-down room (though to her it was palatial when compared to her shack home with her father), and she always looked forward to seeing the Moblin. Perhaps she could get him to say something more than the occasional grunt of acknowledgement and the standard "You'll go home soon." But she also realized that while Moe would visit her, the other nasty men were still around. She would hear them on the other side of the door – which she did not dare step through. Those men terrified her enough that even hearing their voices through the wall made her cower in the corner of the room and just hold her hands over her ears. She pretended like they never existed, and doing that helped her forget that she was still a captive.

She did wonder how Moe related to those men, though. Since he was so much nicer than them, she couldn't see what business he had being around them.

"Mr. Moe," She finally asked him when he next came to bring her a meal. "Do you work for those men?" The Moblin did not look at her… but he nodded. "Oh… that's too bad. You're so much nicer than them. I was hoping you didn't."

"What did you think I did?" He asked gruffly.

Maggie hadn't quite thought of it before. With a shrug and a clueless smile she said, "I dunno… I guess I thought you were a cook. I mean, you're the one who's been making this food right?" Moe did not respond, so Maggie continued on. "It's really good. I usually can't afford to buy anything to eat that's this nice… Papa doesn't usually leave much to work with, so I've never really learned how to cook good."

"… Your father…"

Maggie looked at Moe curiously. She hadn't expected to him to say anything, but he didn't seem to want to finish it either. Had he forgotten? "What about my Papa?"

"He… He left."

She tilted her head to the side. "Left? Where? To the market?" The Moblin didn't say anything else; he simply left. Maggie was confused. Papa had left… But where? It was only after the fact that she had understood what Moe had meant. Papa had left Bleak. He had fled the island and his gambling debts… and her.

Tears sprung to her eyes, but she did not wail or sob. She may have been dumb, but she couldn't feel completely surprised about this turn of events. It was true, they only had each other… but her father had been so enamored in his games after her mother had died. Over the years, even she could notice that any attention paid to her was cursory… Knowing that didn't make it hurt less, though. Because she was alone now… and she had never been alone.

She rubbed a tear off of her face as a small whimper hiccupped out of her. She was alone… sort of… Moe was there, right? He was nice… he wouldn't leave her alone right?

"… Moe…?" She thought to herself aloud. Moe… He didn't say much… but she had come to rely on him. It never occurred to her it was only out of survival… And even if it had, it wouldn't have mattered much. He was still nice to her… But what would happen now? He had said he worked with those men, and papa had left. Papa couldn't pay off the debt if he wasn't around? Would this mean the debt would be passed on to her? That would be bad… She only made enough to get by at the Squid on Stick stall… And since she hadn't been there in weeks, she probably didn't have a job to go back to…

In the midst of her thinking about her new, grimmer situation, she'd heard something like a _bang!_ Startled, she looked to the door that Moe would usually come in and out of. It was closed. So the bang had to be from outside the room. Had someone broken into the house? She crawled over to the door and put an ear against it.

"… he uh, he skipped town, ya see and-"

"And?" It was an unfamiliar voice. It didn't sound like the other men.

"Well, he can't pay us off if he ain't around…"

She heard a sigh that was followed by the unfamiliar voice. "You see, the problem with that is that if he can't pay off his debt… _you_ can't pay off _yours_." The voice sent a chill up her spine. It was said so nicely… but there was just such menace behind it.

"Wait, wait!" Said one of the men, "We have his daughter! She can pay off the debt, yeah!"

There was a snort. "His daughter's a pig. I haven't even seen her and I know that. She wouldn't be worth much even if you threw her in a whorehouse."

"Don't worry we'll find something for her – ah, just… Just give us some more time, Blind!"

She heard the legs of a table screeching against the floor and the scuffling of feet. She heard the voice of the man called Blind, "I don't like you. I have no reason to keep shit on the heel of my boot – it stinks. And you both stink. You get one more chance – and you're lucky you get that much." It was such a cold voice…

"Th-th-thank you-"

"Don't thank me," Blind interrupted quickly. "I never said I wasn't taking anything now."

"Huh-AAAUGH-"

There was screaming, the scuffling of boots, the sound of flesh tearing followed by more screaming. Maggie kept her hands clamped over her mouth to keep herself from making any sort of noise. She had no idea what she was hearing exactly, only that it was very unpleasant and these men were in debt to this horrible man… Then she was in debt to him too…

Everything after that was muffled… The man called Blind had apparently killed one of the men. The one that had first screamed… Blind had taken one of his eyes. The other man tried to stop it… Moe was not around the house. Blind had told the man to "get that Moblin to figure out something to do with that stupid cunt." And then he left. He just left.

She found herself more terrified than the day she had first been thrown into that horrible closet. What should she do? Should she try to run? Should she try to follow in her papa's footsteps and leave Bleak?

She'd been so caught up in attempting a plan she hadn't heard a new commotion starting up just outside her little sanctuary. The door opened. She screamed and crawled quickly to the precious corner of her room and slapped her hands over her eyes.

"Maggie! Shut up, Maggie, it's me!"

She peeked through her fingers. "… P-Penny?" She squeaked.

The scrub walked over and held out a twiggy hand. "Yes, now quick. Come now, your Moblin friend's got that other man occupied, not that it matters much; he's barely conscious. It's best to get away now before Blind catches wind we've been here, so hurry it up!"

"Who… who is he?" She asked slowly as she stood up rigidly.

"Some upstart… He was just some punk who started a gang some years ago but now he's expanding his borders a bit… Come on, hurry up!" Pennysworth snapped as he hurriedly exited the room.

With legs feeling as wobbly as Chu jelly, she gingerly walked out of the room. A look outside and she clapped a hand over her mouth. The dead man was still on the floor… and there was blood on the table…

"Maggie?" She looked to the side.

"… Moe?" It was the Moblin. He'd never really called her by name before. And come to think of it… Hadn't Penny said she had a Moblin friend? It had to have been Moe. He had gotten Penny, then…? She felt her eyes burning and her face scrunching up. "Moe, what… what's going to happen to me now…?"

The Moblin shook his head. "Don't worry… I'll take care of you."

Maggie pursed her lips… He would take care of her…? No one ever took care of her… But… She believed him. She nodded, managing to choke out a, "Thank you… Thank you, Moe…"

The Moblin neared her and held out a large hand. "Let's go."

Again, she looked up at the pig-like beast. … But he wasn't really a beast. He was so kind… She nodded again and took the hand he offered. She already knew she never wanted to let it go.

* * *

When I was originally writing this short, it was a lot darker. But as I wrote the dark version and ended up with a severely damaged Maggie, I realized that that Maggie would end up a lot different than the Maggie I wrote in the main story. So I changed things around and ended up with this, which matched up the Maggie I wrote a lot better. I also wanted Maggie and Moe to have some connection with Blind, even though Maggie and Moe never actually met or saw Blind until the main story. This was also another way to emphasize how unpleasant a person Blind can be when things don't go his way, because the main story totally _wasn't_ enough to get that across (coughimbeingsarcasticcough).

I also wanted this to be kind of fluffy, but it didn't end up being so. And that's just fine, because fluff makes me sick. Whatever the case, this is how Moe and Maggie met in the _Fly Away_ universe. For those unawares, they eventually do get married. :3

Whatever the case, I hope you enjoyed the first installment of this series of little short stories. I have no idea what will come next or when, but when it comes to mind, it'll be here. Until next time guys.


End file.
